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The Function of Identity in Society

Episode 3 of the Specimen the Sociologist podcast, hosted by Jessamyn Reichmann, titled "The Function of Identity in Society" was published on August 8, 2025 and runs 13 minutes.

August 8, 2025 ·13m · Specimen the Sociologist

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In this episode of Specimen the Sociologist, we explore the principle of identity — how it’s formed, what it reveals about us, and why it matters for the health of our relationships and society.Drawing from both sociology and lived experience, Jessamyn Reichmann breaks down how identity takes shape through isolation, conflict, and subtraction. Whether you’re navigating loneliness, disappointment, or simply trying to understand yourself more clearly, this episode offers a thoughtful lens on how identity can serve as both a mirror and a foundation for meaningful change.*The feedback is a wee-bit spicy on this episode! However, the overall message from this podcast is still powerful.Business spotlight: Seattle Jazz Fellowship (@seattlejazzfellowship on IG)Want to sow into this future of this podcast? Donate here.

In this episode of Specimen the Sociologist, we explore the principle of identity — how it’s formed, what it reveals about us, and why it matters for the health of our relationships and society.

Drawing from both sociology and lived experience, Jessamyn Reichmann breaks down how identity takes shape through isolation, conflict, and subtraction. Whether you’re navigating loneliness, disappointment, or simply trying to understand yourself more clearly, this episode offers a thoughtful lens on how identity can serve as both a mirror and a foundation for meaningful change.


*The feedback is a wee-bit spicy on this episode! However, the overall message from this podcast is still powerful.


Business spotlight: Seattle Jazz Fellowship (@seattlejazzfellowship on IG)

Want to sow into this future of this podcast? Donate here.

Specimen Stories Klara Norden Have you ever wondered what secrets lurk in the basement of a natural history museum? Museums around the world are the keepers of vast natural history collections with millions of specimens, ranging from fish in jars to dinosaur fossils. Most of the specimen are not on display, but are an invaluable resource for researchers. But what exactly can we learn from natural history collections? What stories do the specimens tell us? In this podcast, I talk to the people working in collections, and explore some of the amazing and surprising science they discovered. Problem in Modern Ethics, A by John Addington Symonds (1840 - 1893) LibriVox “Society lies under the spell of ancient terrorism and coagulated errors. Science is either wilfully hypocritical or radically misinformed.”John Addington Symonds struck many an heroic note in this courageous (albeit anonymously circulated) essay. He is a worthy Virgil guiding the reader through the Inferno of suffering which emerging medico-legal definitions of the sexually deviant were prepared to inflict on his century and on the one which followed. Symonds pleads for sane human values in a world of Urnings, Dionings, Urano-Dionings and Uraniasters - in short, the whole paraphernalia of Victorian taxonomies and undigested Darwinism which, superimposed on the “terrorism” of religion, labelled and to some extent created the specimen “homosexual.”A discussion of the “manly love” poems of Walt Whitman leads the author to speculate on a better future for the criminalised mutual passions of men; yet he is obliged to defer the dream, for “the world cannot be invited The Andes and The Amazon James Orton This book, with the subtitle "Across the Continent of South America" describes the scientific expedion of 1867 to the equatorial Andes and the Amazon. The route was from Guayaquil to Quito, over the Cordillera, through the forest to Napo, and, finally, on the Rio Napo to Pebas on the Maranon. Besides this record, the expedition - under the auspices of the Smithsonian Institute - collected samples of rocks and plants, and numerous specimen of animals. The scientists also compiled a vocabulary of local languages and produced a new map of equatorial America. James Orton (1830 - 1877) was Professor in Natural History in Vassar College, and corresponding member of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. (Summary by Availle, from the Preface) Toxic Bag Productions Podcast News and updates from the world of Toxic Bag, producers of feature-film-quality sound effects for RPGs and creators of the board game "Specimen."
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